Two killed in nine bomb blasts in Bangalore(2nd lead: Bangalore blast)

Bangalore, July 25 : A string of nine bomb blasts one after another shook Karnataka's capital during the busy lunch hour today, leaving two killed and 20 injured.

The crude bombs, concealed near refugee camps and roadside stuffed with nuts and bolts, exploded between 1.30 p.m. and 1.45 p.m. at Adugodi, Madivala, Nayandahalli, Mysore Road, Richmond Circle, Pantharapalya and Vittal Mallya Road.

Two persons were killed and 12 injured in the blasts, Home Minister Shivraj Patil said in New Delhi.

A woman waiting at a bus stop in Madivala on the Bangalore-Hosur Road was killed in the blast, while her husband and another person were seriously injured.

Four of the blasts were between Hosur Road and Madiwala; the other three at Nayandahalli, Vittal Mallya Road and Richmond Circle, City Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari told reporters.

Except in two places, low intensity explosives were used for the blasts, which occurred within a few minutes of each other, he said.

Police have recovered gelatin sticks, mainly used in quarry operations, from one of the blast sites.

No group claimed immediate responsibility for the blasts. However, sources in the Union Home Ministry said that the hand of local cadre of banned SIMI was suspected to be behind the blasts and the expertise in assembling the low intensity devices possibly being provided by Pakistan-based Lashker-e-Taiba.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh strongly condemned the serial blasts and asked the people to remain calm and maintain communal harmony. He announced Rs.One lakh ex-gratia to the next of kin of each of the deceased.

ANI